Review Roundup - Steven Carell, Kristen Wiig Lend Voices for DESPICABLE ME 3

The DESPICABLE ME franchise centers on Gru, a former super-villain now turned dad and superhero; his yellow-colored Minions; his three orphan girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes; and his wife, Lucy Wilde. The third installment of the Despicable Me series sees protagonist Felonious Gru, now a member of the Anti-Villain League, do battle with a former child actor turned villain, and meets up with his long lost twin brother (who has a glorious head of hair) Dru. Directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, and co-directed by Eric Guillon, the film is written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio and stars the voices of Steve Carell in a dual role, Kristen Wiig, and Trey Parker. It premiered on June 14, 2017 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and is scheduled to be released in the United States tomorrow on June 30, 2017.

Let's see what the critics have to say:

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: "The overload of subplots can be wearying, but you'll be laughing too much to complain. Pierre Coffin (who voices the Minions) and co-director Kyle Balda keep the plot spinning merrily. Pharrell Williams contributes five new songs to the mix, including the hummable "There's Something Special." It's no mystery why Illumination's franchise is still something special after three go-rounds... Carell is the life of the party and the main reason this animated blast of slapstick silliness packs appeal beyond the PG crowd."

Katie Walsh, Chicago Tribune: "Despicable Me 3... relies on pre-established audience familiarity with the characters and universe of the franchise, and then just throws subplots on top of subplots on top of that. Each story is so shallow that it feels like a series of shorts, with only the flimsiest of narrative threads stitching the whole thing together."

Alex Abad Santos, Vox: "Despicable Me 3 is not fully successful, as it's stuffed with too many competing plots and subplots involving everything from unemployment, new bosses, and a villain voiced by South Park's Trey Parker to '80s nostalgia, exploring a foreign country, and Gru's brother Dru, who we previously didn't know existed. But there's still a lot to like, and Despicable Me 3 leaves us with a lot to look forward to, should Universal keep the franchise going with a fourth movie"

Geoffrey Macnab, Independent: "Despicable Me 3 is random in the extreme in structure but it is also wildly inventive, full of visual and verbal gags, and very good natured too. The energy levels never dip and each new set-piece turns out to even more bizarre and original than its predecessor."

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: "Maybe this plotline could be poignant, were there not a bunch of similarly useless subplots vying for the audience's partial attention."

Alex Welch, IGN: "By the time Despicable Me 3 comes to an end the franchise has officially worn out its welcome once and for all. But the good news is that the film features such a vibrantly stylish adventure that it keeps that negative feeling from becoming too overwhelming until the credits finally roll."

To post a comment, you must register and login.